Mapua Jeff - Lana Wachowski

Published in 2017 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2017 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Mapua, Jeff, author.

Title: Lana Wachowski / Jeff Mapua.

Description: First edition. | New York : Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2017. | Series: Transgender pioneers | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015047610 | ISBN 9781508171607 (library bound)

Subjects: LCSH: Wachowski, Lana, 1965Juvenile literature.

| TranssexualsUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. | Transgender peopleUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature.

| Motion picture producers and directorsUnited StatesBiography Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC HQ77.8.W33 M37 2017 | DDC 306.76/8092dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015047610

Manufactured in China

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

L ana Wachowski never wanted the spotlight. From her days as a bright student to her career as a big-budget Hollywood film director, she always shied away from the attention that her hard work merited. Her privacy was vitally important to her, and once famous, she strove to keep her personal life out of the media despite being in a profession in which the public craves personal drama to fill headlines and entertainment news shows. However, there was one thing about herself that Wachowski felt was even more important than her hard-fought anonymity, and she was willing to sacrifice her privacy in order to fight for it.

Lana Wachowski is a transgender, or trans, woman. At birth, she was assigned male, but internally she identified as female. As a child, Lana's gender identity caused her to feel confused, and it resulted in a difficult youth. As an adult, Wachowski has forgone her anonymity and stepped out into the spotlight to share her story in hopes that other transgender individuals will not have to suffer the same feelings of confusion, isolation, and depression that she did growing up.

There are many brave individuals in the transgender community who take the courageous step of coming out publicly. Wachowski, however, had the unique position of also being a successful Hollywood director with several multimillion dollar movies in her filmography. In 1999, her first major box-office hit was The Matrix, an action-packed movie that she directed with her sister and professional partner, Lilly Wachowski. Audiences around the world were wowed by its futuristic style, relatable heroes, and crisp fight choreography. The Wachowskis infused their love of philosophy into the film, which, in turn, spawned multiple academic studies and philosophical debates. The success propelled Lana and her sister into rarefied air. However, despite their success and the fame that it brought, the Wachowskis maintained their privacy and declined all interviews and public appearances for several years.

When she felt ready, Lana Wachowski came out as trans to her close friends and family. Their response was uplifting and humbling, particularly how easily her parents embraced their daughter. Wachowski was able to find the support that she needed in her family. (Years later, her sister Lilly also came out as transgender and transitioned from male to female.} Lana was also able to find love and get married. But while she was lucky, Wachowski knew that there were others not as blessed with good fortune and understanding families. She read about victims of intolerance and hate crimes such as Gwen Araujo, a transgender woman who, in 2002, was murdered by four men because she was a trans woman. Wachowski knew that while her family had been accepting, much prejudice and ignorance still existed in the world around her.

Many of the Wachowskis' films deal with heroes who face overwhelming odds to break the status quo and overcome villains who hold power and use it to terrorize or oppress others. In her personal life, Lana Wachowski took the path of the hero and spoke out against the prejudice, ignorance, and intolerance that oppress the transgender community. She sacrificed something she held dearher privacyto fight for a greater good. Wachowski's honesty and willingness to share her experience have positively impacted lives around the world.

B efore stepping behind the lens of a camera, Lana Wachowski was just like any other kid growing up in 1960s Chicago. She shared the same interests as many other children her age. Lana enjoyed playing games with her siblings and watching movies with her parents. However, even in her youth, Lana began to feel that something was different about her. She had trouble finding the right words to describe exactly what it was. In retrospect, Wachowski came to understand that what she was experiencing was gender dysphoriathe unhappiness produced by an incongruity between one's gender identity (the gender that a person internally feels that they are) and their apparent physical sex (the physical traits with which they were born).

FAMILY LIFE

Lana Wachowski was born on June 21, 1965, in Chicago, Illinois, to Ron and Lynne Wachowski. Lana was designated male at birth, and her parents named her Laurence (or Larry, for short). Ron owned a machinery-importing business. Lynne had a career as a nurse before becoming an expressionist painter. Lana has three sisters, including Lilly, her professional partner.

The Wachowskis were a close-knit family and lived in Beverly, a middle-class neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. Lana's parents were protective of their children, and Lana also had a special protector in Lilly, who always watched out for her. This particular family trait would be of the utmost importance later in life as Lana struggled with her identity. Coming out as transgender can be a daunting task, and having family support is lucky and invaluablean advantage that many members of the transgender community do not have. After her transition, Lana compared having parents like hers to winning the lottery.

Lana's relationship with her sister, Lilly, was always very close. As directors, their working relationship reaped the benefits of their lifelong bond. Their father, Ron, said that, as children, they were inseparable. In a September 2012 article for The New Yorker,Ron recalled that Lana "would come up with a crazy idea to hang ropes from a tree and make a swing or trapeze, and [Lilly] would be the person to grab hold of the rope, climb, and crash down."

A NOTE ABOUT LANGUAGE

Just as transgender rights evolve over time and our culture becomes more aware of the issues that affect members of the transgender community, so, too, must the language we use evolve to reflect these changes. Cisgender is a term that serves as the antonym of transgender. A cisgender individual is a person who identifies as the gender that they were assigned at birth. The related concept of cisnormativity refers to the common perception or use of language that implies that all people are inherently cisgender and that transgender individuals are a deviation from a perceived norm. This assumption is incorrect and highly offensive to members of the transgender community.